The principal objective of a SIAMS inspection is to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school. The focus of the inspection for a church school is on the effect that the Christian ethos of the school has on the learner.
In conducting a section 48 inspection, inspectors will seek to judge how well the school's distinctive Christian character and values ensure the development and achievement of the whole child or young person. Schools will be judged to be effective by the means and variety of strategies, approaches and styles they employ, which reflect their particular local context or church tradition. The training for inspectors makes clear that they should carefully diagnose how the impact that each church school has on the learner without applying a preconceived template of what a distinctive or effective church school should be like.
